Advocates urge city to press county for more drop boxes, early voting in San Luis

Antonio Ramirez, political and policy director for Rural Arizona Action, used the meeting’s public comment period to press the City of San Luis to take a more active role in ensuring voting access for residents.

Ramirez said Yuma County Recorder David Lara had told a previous council meeting that state statute and the Election Procedures Manual require cameras at all early ballot drop boxes and that the recorder must control the cameras. Ramirez told the council that he and partner election organizations, and a review of guidance from the secretary of state's office, found no statute or manual citation to support that claim. “Thus far, no one has been able to find any state statute or any references in the election procedures manual to back up the county recorder’s claims,” he said.

Ramirez outlined five requests he asked the city to press the county to adopt if the recorder could not provide documentation: keep the early ballot drop box at the San Luis Library; add an additional drop box at the cultural center; add an in‑person early voting location in San Luis (he said the county currently has only one); add an additional voting center in San Luis; and implement a wait‑time reduction plan for the 2026 elections, which he said the Election Procedures Manual requires. “We really wanna make it easier for people to vote, not harder,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez also described reports from 2024 of long lines at some voting sites in Yuma County — including San Luis — with waits of two to three hours and some voters leaving before casting ballots. He said his organization had provided food to some voters who were queuing long hours so they could remain in line.

The council did not take immediate action during the meeting other than to hear Ramirez’s request. The speaker asked the county recorder to provide documentation to support his earlier claim; Ramirez asked that, if the recorder could not provide it, the city formally request the five items he listed.

The council did not debate or vote on the items during the public comment period; under the city’s open‑meeting rules cited at the start of the public comment period, council members may ask staff to review matters or place them on a future agenda.

Next steps: Ramirez requested that the county recorder follow up with documentation and that the city consider formally asking the county for the listed voting‑access measures if no documentation is provided.